Author: dartfrog

Hello to you, One day at the beginning of the semester, I was late. I was supposed to meet a group to go on an adventure to Papallacta, a hot springs. My host mother did not give me breakfast until ten minutes before I was supposed to be there. I…

Hey pals, How do you get to Tiputini Biodiversity Research Station in the Amazon Rainforest? You set an alarm for 3:20 A.M. and take a taxi to a bus to an airplane to a boat to another bus to another boat. It took maybe ten minutes after moving into our…

Dearests, Mindo is known for its copious number of birds. It’s a tiny almost-touristy town in northern Ecuador. We stayed in an idyllic hostel with mosquito nets that made us feel like princesses, and during the days we hiked and swam in waterfalls and ate chocolate. Our bus back the…

Greetings from the middle of the world, Rucu Pichincha is an active volcano to the west of Quito, with an elevation of 15,595 feet (4784 meters). To a tourist, it is perhaps best known as the mountain with the TeleferiQo on it. The TeleferiQo is a gondola built almost primarily…

Hello lovelies, Sometimes life is a lot. This will serve as an ongoing list of small observations and questions to ground myself, and maybe you, too, in a more digestible reality. The cream cheese here is different. I can’t explain how. The people here are really into strawberry-flavored things: ice…

Hello Everyone, I survived my first week of classes. Survived is a good word I think. Not because of any real threat to my life. Rather, seemingly every possible annoying mundanity conspired against me this week. To tell it all would be impossible and probably not very interesting to you,…

Dear friends and family, You must be wondering what exciting adventures I have in store for you. Well, today I went to the supermarket. You must be patient with me. I have only been here three days. Actually, I went to two supermarkets and a bakery where both of…